BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1587
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 12, 1999
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Kerry Mazzoni, Chair
AB 1587 (Scott) - As Amended: April 22, 1999
SUBJECT : School violence.
SUMMARY : An urgency measure that establishes the school
Emergency Response to Violent Events program. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Establishes the School emergency Response to Violent Events
(SERVE) program. Requires the State Department of Education
(SDE) to:
a) Establish and operate regional training programs to
assist schools and school districts to develop plans for
their initial steps in the event of a violent situation,
and incorporate those plans with existing emergency
response plans;
b) Establish and train a cadre of mental health
professionals and law enforcement officials to be on call
for school districts in the aftermath of a violent event;
c) Develop a crisis response handbook for distribution at
each school and school district;
d) Identify services and resources available to schools and
school districts to anticipate and respond to violent
situations; and
e) Assist school districts in conducting practice
responses, and in conducting periodic reviews and updates
of the disaster procedure policies.
2)Requires the SDE to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness
of training and report to the Legislature by March 1, 2002.
3)Appropriates $2,000,000 from the General Fund to SDE for the
SERVE program.
4)States legislative findings and declarations regarding the
need to provide counseling and other services to students
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traumatized by school violence, to enable them to fully
participate in and benefit from school.
EXISTING LAW
1)The California Constitution establishes that students and
staff have the inalienable right to attend school campuses
that are safe, secure, and peaceful.
2)Requires each school district and county office of education
to be responsible for the overall development of school safety
plans and requires the schoolsite council, if any, or the
designated school safety planning committee to develop the
plan for each schoolsite. These provisions are to be repealed
on January 1, 2000.
3)Provides criteria for the development and contents of school
safety plans. Authorizes schools to apply for grants to
implement such plans.
4)Establishes the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act,
which includes interagency safe school model programs, the
interagency school safety cadre, and school community
policing.
5)Establishes the School Violence Reduction Program, which is a
statewide grant program.
6)Establishes the Safe School Policing Partnership Act.
7)Authorizes schools to develop security or police departments.
8)Authorizes the Department of Justice to contract with one
professional law enforcement trainer and one professional
educator trainer to coordinate and present related statewide
workshops for school districts.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriates $2,000,000 from the General Fund.
COMMENTS :
Need for this bill . According to the author, "The
near-desperate need to reduce violence in our schools and
communities has been accepted by all branches of state and local
governments. Tens of millions of dollars are being spent on
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violence reduction programs of various sorts, and millions are
being spent on programs directly or indirectly related to youth
violence. Yet, there are random and occasional violent acts
that claim the lives of teens on or adjacent to school campuses.
This proposal will enable the California Department of
Education to develop a pilot response team of school
psychologists, school counselors, other metal health
professionals, and law enforcement representatives from various
regions throughout the state to receive specialized training
based on a successful national model and to have the response
team available to schools and districts when a violent event
occurs on campus or in the adjacent school community. In
addition, the proposal provides statewide training resources to
assist schools and district to anticipate specific processes and
steps to follow if and when a violent event, such as a suicide
or homicide, impacts a school site." Background materials
provided by the author discuss the role of NOVA (see below) in
the development of state programs.
National organization for Victim Assistance . The National
organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) is a private,
non-profit organization of victim and witness assistance
programs and practitioners, criminal justice agencies and
professionals, mental health professionals, researchers, and
former victims and survivors. NOVA has developed training
materials and trained staff and volunteers in crisis
intervention, as well as developed directories of national
organizations and local service providers to aid in the referral
of victims. NOVA's National Community Crisis Response Team
sends trained crisis responders, including psychologists, into
communities which have been traumatized by catastrophic events.
NOVA has developed information geared toward federal, state and
local agencies, in the area of training and related topics.
National Emergency Assistance Team . The National Emergency
Assistance Team (NEAT)is part of the National Association of
School Psychologists' Advocacy Program. The purpose of this
team is to provide the expertise to enable school districts to
respond before, during and after a large scale crisis. This
team is composed of trained Nationally Certified School
Psychologists with expertise in prevention and intervention.
Upon request from a school district, NEAT provides consultation
to crisis teams, schools and school districts, and disseminate
information and resources relevant to crisis intervention.
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Crisis response handbook . This bill requires the SDE to
develop a crisis response handbook for distribution at each
school and school district. How will this handbook differ from
"A Guide to Safe Schools," which is being, and has been,
distributed by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S.
Department of Education?
Mental health professionals and law enforcement officials . This
bill requires the SDE to establish and train a cadre of mental
health professionals and law enforcement officials. How will it
be determined who such professionals and officials are and how
they will be selected to participate in the cadre?
Periodic reviews . This bill requires the SDE to assist school
districts in conducting periodic reviews and updates of the
disaster procedure policies. This bill does not define periodic
or assign a review timeline. Should this bill specify how often
such policies and plans be reviewed, such as on an annual basis?
Prior legislation . AB 975 (McDonald) of the 1995-96 session
authorized school districts to establish a school crisis
management team (SCMT) to develop a detailed action plan for
managing crises and provide prevention, intervention and
post-crisis services. That bill failed passage on the Assembly
Floor. SB 187 (Hughes), Chapter 736, Statutes of 1997, required
school districts and county offices of education to develop
comprehensive school safety plans.
Related legislation in the current session . AB 1366 (Machado)
establishes a School Crisis Intervention and Response Task Force
to evaluate school-based crisis intervention and response
programs. AB 1451 (Florez) establishes the School Safety Act
and the School Disaster Preparedness Grant Program. AB 20x
(Maddox) establishes the Grant Program for School Security
Personnel Training. SB 195 (Baca) repeals the sunset date on
provisions requiring school districts to develop school safety
plans and requires new schools to develop and implement a
comprehensive school safety plan within 12 months of the opening
of the school.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : (as of 5/7/99)
Support
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of School Psychologists
AB 1587
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California School Employees Association
Glendale Unified School District
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 319-2087